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New York mayor Eric Adams moves migrant tent camp due to flooding

Mayor of New York City Eric Adams announced plans Monday to relocate a migrant tent camp due to flooding. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
Mayor of New York City Eric Adams announced plans Monday to relocate a migrant tent camp due to flooding. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to move a tent city to shelter migrants after the emergency shelter site flooded.

Adams announced late Monday night that the 1,000-person site in the Bronx's Orchard Beach would be moved to Randall's Island and instead house 500 people.

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"Following this weekend's storms, New York City Emergency Management determined that, while we would be able to put in place the necessary ponding mitigation measures, relocating the Orchard Beach humanitarian relief center to Randall's Island is the most efficient and effective path forward," Adams said in a statement.

Many people had criticized Adams for his decision to build a tent city in a beach parking lot, saying that the area would be prone to flooding.

"This new location is less prone to flooding, is closer to public transportation, and will provide temporary respite to 500 asylum seekers," Adams said. "We expect this site to open in approximately the same timeframe as the originally planned location, and we continue to build out our options and explore additional sites as we handle this humanitarian crisis created by human hands."

According to the New York Times, more than 16,000 migrants have entered the shelter system since the spring. Many of those have been bused to New York by Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and the city has had trouble housing all of them. The population in the city's main shelter system reached 60,000 on Friday, which is close to a record high.

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The tents house only single adults and the city has already opened shelters in dozens of hotels to house the incoming migrants.

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